[Anne1377]

Hi friends,

First..... I must admit that I buy WAY too many clothes for Annie. With that being said, would I make more money selling her clothes on ebay or bringing them to a consignment shop?

Before I knew about ebay, I would always just bring them to a local shop. A few years back, I started selling them on ebay. I started bringing down last years fall and winter clothes and I kid you not, I have eight full buckets of clothes that will no longer fit her and I need to get rid of them. ( The buckets are now in the family room and I need to get RID of them!!!) I am dreading taking the pictures and the time it takes to list them on ebay but would I make more money doing this? Should I just suck it up and begin the rather tedious chore of listing them or does it not really make a difference cash wise whether I sell them on ebay or if I bring them to a shop?

What are your thoughts on this.....ebay vs. consignment shops?

FYI- all of her clothes are from gymboree, gap or local boutiques and are in excellent condition...many still have tags! Most comes with matching accessories- socks, tights, hair bows, etc.

Thanks so much for your thoughts....

Diane

[Clare'sMom]

I hae done both. E-bay is alot of work, but for very high end clothing, or new with tags gymboree or multi piece gymboree outfits with matching acssesories will bring you much more money. But when I have LOADS of things to just get rid of it is much easier to just take them to a re-sale shop. Check them out in your area and see wich ones are the nicest, they usually pay more for your things.

I also have two girls that are almost the same size so I also LOVE to give atleast half the cloths to someone I know... makes their day and I love to see my girls cloths on their little ones....

Good Luck, happy closet cleaning...
Ann

[afl]

I would definitely say if you have name-brands like Gymboree, that will sell a lot better on eBay. It seems to me you get such a small amt from a consignment store.

I sell name brand stuff on eBay and the other stuff I actually sell in garage sales and I think I make more that way than I would from a consignment shop and it's all gone in one day! We had a sale in May and I made hundreds on baby clothes alone.

[angel_bayou]

I have tried ebay and I must do something wrong because I don't have any luck on there!! Now to be honest ship most of my girls clothes to Guatemala, but the name brands now go to the consignment shop!! I do pretty good there with them! Can't wait to see others opinions!

[DPline]

I find that for name brand things like Gymboree I do better with Ebay than with the consignment shop, but it is a lot of work if you have a lot of items. Lauren's Gymobree things go on Ebay when she outgrows them and non-name brand things I either donate or pass on to someone who I know can use them.

[wvamom]

I didn't have great luck with E-bay, even with GAP and Limited Too grade school girls' clothes. I think I had three lots and sold two for $5.00 each and the other didn't even sell. I also think when people bid they take into account the amount shipping will be--which can seriously affect the sales price.

On the other hand, I have had great luck BUYING name brand clothes on E-bay, so it stands to reason somebody must be selling them, right?

Carolyn

[annaguat]

I buy used and if I had the brand names you mention I would resell on ebay. I don't think you will get any where near $ from a resale store as to what you can get on ebay. Anna

[carolynpep73]

I've done both. My mother owned a consignment store until just recently. Even my best Gymbo stuff didn't go for more than $8 a set. Keep in mind that my mom didn't take a cut on my stuff, but most consignment stores do a cut of 60/40 (you being the 40). Needless to say, 40% of $8 is not much. I have just begun doing Ebay with my nicer stuff and it's been much more successful. It is more work but I think worth it. Now that you can do every component of it at home helps a lot. I print all of my shipping labels, box everything from home and then schedule a carrier pick up. I never have to step into the post office. That's a very nice feature. So my vote, Ebay if you have time because you'll get more money; consignment if you want to get rid of it fast and have no hassle. Good luck!

[guatparents2be]

I always take into account the amount of time it will take to deal with x,y, or z. Is it worth my time? How much more would you really make? If it is $100 more (you'd have to sell 20 pieces for $5 more each) but you have to spend 3 hours posting it and 3 hours getting it shipped is it worth it? Do you spend time checking your auctions? Will that turn it into 7 hours instead of 6? What else could you be doing with your time?

i.e. cost-benefit ratio.

Just food for thought.

[Slatond10]

I do consignments shops. We have one upscale and one average consignment shop. For my higher name brands I try to take to the upscale one ( but they have lots of limitations on when they take and when they pay out ..etc). The average one is VERY FLEXIBLE and I just run a credit rather than cash out. It is DD's favorite store and we go there to let her "shop" and pick out whatever toy or clothing item she wants. Nice to have the credit.

But although I purch from Ebay, I have never sold on ebay... If you are seasoned @ that then it might be a better choice for making $$$.

[KKR213]

I was thinking of taking some of John's gear and some clothes to a consignment store. But there are some items still with tags that I would like to try to sell on ebay. But I have a question for those who have done it before. Do you get paid through Paypal? How does that work? Do you attach it to a bank account? I have Paypal but only use it to send out! Hence the need to sell some stuff!!

Thanks for any input!

[Evansmommy]

I have been listing used clothing lots on craigslist with great results! I used to do Ebay, but got burned a few times with people that didn't pay, so I tried craigslist. #1 It's free to list things there. #2. If someone doesn't show up to buy something, you just leave it on the list. #3. There is NO SHIPPING. #4 The listing is WAY easier than Ebay. #5 Did I mention that it's FREE? I just put garage sale prices on my stuff and it goes and I don't have to have a garage sale. Good luck!

[SisterBear]

I try to ebay the namebrand/boutique stuff. I've done consignment and been disappointed by how little money I got. (Not to mention that the owner of our local consignment shop yelled at me...long story. Even worse I burst into tears. We had been told that Carmen couldn't hear that week. Bad week to yell at me over something stupid! Turns out she can hear.)

I will say that one time a friend gave me a big bag of Gymboree and Gap stuff and I was SO excited! I usually don't give that stuff away but maybe I should!

[hbrown22]

I sell Emmi's clothes on ebay but only Gymboree and Gap, which is what most of her clothes are. I do it twice, maybe 3 times per year. I sell all her winter clothing in Sept. and all her summer clothing about March. I've always done really well with it but I don't sell anything that has a stain on it. It is tedious and takes time but it is worth it. I also always give a huge bagfull a couple times a year to my niece, who is 18 months younger. I love seeing Emmi's old clothes on her. I too buy WAY too many clothes! You can only get away with picking out their clothes for a little while so may as well enjoy it!

[carolynpep73]

Good point about craigslist! I totally forgot about that. My friend loves craigslist. I haven't tried it but I think I'll give it a shot.

Ebay is really not that time consuming once you get used to it. I only sell Gymbo, The Children's Place and Gap. The other brands just don't sell well enough. I do all of my shipping straight from home. THe other day I had 4 closed auctions and it took 30 min for me to pack, print shipping labels, and schedule a carrier pickup. I never stepped foot in the post office. I made $56 off those auctions. Not too bad for about 4 hours of my time to photograph, launch, and ship my auctions. Like another posted stated, I do auctions twice a year...sept/oct for holiday stuff and march for summer stuff.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do!